Bitcoin and major altcoins steadied Tuesday as a sudden ceasefire-driven rally faded and U.S. President Donald Trump set a hard deadline for Iran to accept a deal — warning that if it does not agree by Tuesday night he would “destroy every bridge in Iran by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.” Market moves - Bitcoin slipped to $68,589 in Asian hours, down about 0.6% over 24 hours after spiking to $69,350 on Monday. That jump followed an Axios report of a possible 45-day ceasefire, but the optimism lasted only around 12 hours. - Ether fell 1% to $2,104. - Solana’s SOL dropped 2.7% to $79.75. - XRP was down 1.6% at $1.32. - Dogecoin slid 2.2% to $0.09. - BNB remained relatively flat at $598. What drove the churn Crypto’s pattern over the past six weeks held true: brief bursts of risk-on sentiment on positive headlines are swiftly pared back by new negative developments. Diana Pires, chief business officer at sFOX, framed the action as positioning unwinding rather than a fundamental shift: “This move looks less like a shift in fundamentals and more like positioning getting caught offsides,” she said, noting bearish sentiment and elevated short interest ahead of the ceasefire report. Monday’s short-squeeze was measurable: roughly $196.7 million in short liquidations hit the market after the ceasefire news. The reversal came when Iran reportedly sent mediator Pakistan a rejection of the ceasefire proposal, demanding instead a permanent end to the war, sanctions relief, reconstruction aid and secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Energy, equities and macro backdrop Geopolitical tensions pushed oil higher — U.S. crude climbed above $112 and Brent traded near $115.66, up about 2.9% — after Trump warned the military could put every Iranian power plant “out of business” if no agreement is reached, even while saying talks were “going well.” Equities, however, showed resilience: the S&P 500 notched its longest run of gains since January despite the intraday whipsaw. Macro data added to the uncertainty. U.S. services activity slowed in March, employment contracted at the sharpest rate since 2023, and input prices accelerated — a mix that leaves the Fed without a clear impetus to cut rates or pause hikes. Key inflation prints this week are likely to sway markets further. Range-bound bitcoin Bitcoin continues to trade inside the $65,000–$73,000 band that has defined the market since the conflict began. Every rally has stalled near the top of the range and each sell-off has found support near the bottom. With Trump’s Tuesday midnight deadline approaching, traders will be watching whether the next catalyst pushes BTC to test the upper or lower boundary. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news